UFC: Carlos Ulberg eyes title showdown with Alex Pereira, before long-awaited Octagon return against Alonzo Menifield

Standing with his hands raised in the middle of the Octagon at UFC 293 in Sydney last September, Carlos Ulberg's stock had just peaked after a sensational final-round finish of Jung Da-Un.

The Kiwi kickboxing convert's maiden submission victory in professional MMA spoke volumes of his rapid evolution as a fighter, while earning him a head-turning fourth straight win inside the distance and extending his win streak to five bouts.

It was a head-turning display that had pundits and UFC matchmakers alike filing through a list of ranked candidates for Ulberg to make a hasty turnaround against to ensure his momentum continued its steep upwards trajectory.

The index finger eventually landed on former title challenger and No. 14 ranked Dominick Reyes, a fighter with the kind of name recognition that would look great on Ulberg's CV, only for their scheduled rendezvous in January to be scuppered by an injury to the City Kickboxing product.

Their fight date was pushed back to March, until Reyes was diagnosed with blood clots in his leg that forced him to withdraw from competition indefinitely.

That saw Alonzo Menifield promoted as an injury replacement to meet Ulberg in New Jersey. The UFC then decided to reschedule the contest, which brings us to this weekend in St Louis - nine long months since Ulberg last strapped on a UFC glove in anger.

Ever the optimist, the 'Black Jag' has a silver-lined perspective on the entire situation. More time waiting simply equates to more time honing his craft and sharpening his tools for what he envisions will be yet another statement performance this weekend.

"It's been tough but it's given me more time in the gym, which is good," Ulberg told Newshub.  

"It's allowed me to be more focussed stay in the gym and not get lulled into the holidays.

"The stopping and starting of the camp has been obviously frustrating, but it's allowed me to stay fit, so I see it as a blessing."

In fact, the overall outcome of the scenario has worked in Ulberg's favour. American Menifield may not have the profile of Reyes - who once pushed the great Jon Jones to the limit in a light heavyweight world title fight - but his recent record is much more impressive. At No.11 in the official divisional rankings, he's three spots higher than Reyes, who's lost three-straight fights since his bout with Jones and has been plagued by injury.

In stark contrast, the bulldozing Menifield (15-3) is undefeated in his past five bouts and presents Ulberg with a golden opportunity to make a bold first entry to the top-15 rankings.

Ulberg believes their paths were destined to cross.

"Look at it. We're now facing someone who's No.11 ranked and before you know it, we could be in title contention," he added. "So, you've got to look at the bright side of things.

"I knew eventually I'd have I'd be facing Menifield. I met him out in Perth when he fought [Australian Jimmy ]Crute and we spoke to each other. Gave each other the look where it's like, we know we're going to face each other eventually. It may not be the first time we fight.

"I see him to be a very top contender. I think he'd be able to take some of the guys in that top five.  

"It's definitely going to be an entertaining one. He's got a lot of power, explosive power, and this could be fight of the night."

With five fights under his belt in the world's premier MMA promotion, the two-time King in the Ring champion says he's now feeling much more comfortable in a cage.

He learned a brutal, albeit highly valuable, lesson in the importance of patience in his debut defeat in a fight of the night winner against Kennedy and has been dominant in his five consecutive victories since, which included a stretch of three first-round stoppages.

But Ulberg admits his most recent win via submission may have provided the biggest shot of confidence yet, an undeniable endorsement of the strength of his grappling game – an area kickboxers transitioning to MMA traditionally struggle with.

Reflecting on how far he's come in just three years exclusively focused on MMA, Ulberg says he's almost unrecognisable as a fighter.

"The loss against Kennedy was a blessing in disguise because I took a step back and I had time to think," Ulberg explained.  

"I was dominant in kickboxing but the MMA game is so much different. You have to worry about getting taken down. The four-ounce gloves. The five minutes in comparison to three minutes is a massive jump.

Adjusting to that and learning the tools to go along with what I have now - I'm just learning to break barriers. That's what I've been learning about myself, being able to break as many barriers as I can.

"In terms of my fitness levels and, and the technical sides of things and learning mixed martial arts as a game strategy has been a big thing for me."

Now one of light heavyweights strongest surging prospects, Ulberg, 33, could very quickly find himself around the title conversation in a division which is crying out for fresh contenders for champion Alex Pereira.

While he only has one title defence to his name, 'Poatan' has already shown signs he could be poised for an historic UFC tenure, with suggestions he may step up to heavyweight and attempt to become the first-ever fighter to win titles in three different divisions.

Ulberg confesses he's been manifesting a matchup with the Brazilian he's adamant is inevitable.

"I know it's going to happen. I know eventually it's going to happen, for sure. It's definitely a fight that I want to have for sure.  

"He's dominant right now. He's looking at fighting someone like [Jon] Jones.  

"To get a match up like that would be quite good for me, and then also had to have that win over him will be quite good for me."

Ulberg and Menfield lock horns on a card which is headlined by a heavyweight slobberknocker between the eternally entertaining Derrick Lewis and Rodrigo Nascimento.

Standing with his hands raised in the middle of the Octagon at UFC 293 in Sydney last September, Carlos Ulberg's stock had just peaked after a sensational final-round finish of Jung Da-Un.

The Kiwi kickboxing convert's maiden submission victory in professional MMA spoke volumes of his rapid evolution as a fighter, while earning him a head-turning fourth straight win inside the distance and extending his win streak to five bouts.

It was a head-turning display that had pundits and UFC matchmakers alike filing through a list of ranked candidates for Ulberg to make a hasty turnaround against to ensure his momentum continued its steep upwards trajectory.

The index finger eventually landed on former title challenger and No. 14 ranked Dominick Reyes, a fighter with the kind of name recognition that would look great on Ulberg's CV, only for their scheduled rendezvous in January to be scuppered by an injury to the City Kickboxing product.

Their fight date was pushed back to March, until Reyes was diagnosed with blood clots in his leg that forced him to withdraw from competition indefinitely.

That saw Alonzo Menifield promoted as an injury replacement to meet Ulberg in New Jersey. The UFC then decided to reschedule the contest, which brings us to this weekend in St Louis - nine long months since Ulberg last strapped on a UFC glove in anger.

Ever the optimist, the 'Black Jag' has a silver-lined perspective on the entire situation. More time waiting simply equates to more time honing his craft and sharpening his tools for what he envisions will be yet another statement performance this weekend.

"It's been tough but it's given me more time in the gym, which is good," Ulberg told Newshub.  

"It's allowed me to be more focussed stay in the gym and not get lulled into the holidays.

"The stopping and starting of the camp has been obviously frustrating, but it's allowed me to stay fit, so I see it as a blessing."

In fact, the overall outcome of the scenario has worked in Ulberg's favour. American Menifield may not have the profile of Reyes - who once pushed the great Jon Jones to the limit in a light heavyweight world title fight - but his recent record is much more impressive. At No.11 in the official divisional rankings, he's three spots higher than Reyes, who's lost three-straight fights since his bout with Jones and has been plagued by injury.

In stark contrast, the bulldozing Menifield (15-3) is undefeated in his past five bouts and presents Ulberg with a golden opportunity to make a bold first entry to the top-15 rankings.

Ulberg believes their paths were destined to cross.

"Look at it. We're now facing someone who's No.11 ranked and before you know it, we could be in title contention," he added. "So, you've got to look at the bright side of things.

"I knew eventually I'd have I'd be facing Menifield. I met him out in Perth when he fought [Australian Jimmy ]Crute and we spoke to each other. Gave each other the look where it's like, we know we're going to face each other eventually. It may not be the first time we fight.

"I see him to be a very top contender. I think he'd be able to take some of the guys in that top five.  

"It's definitely going to be an entertaining one. He's got a lot of power, explosive power, and this could be fight of the night."

With five fights under his belt in the world's premier MMA promotion, the two-time King in the Ring champion says he's now feeling much more comfortable in a cage.

He learned a brutal, albeit highly valuable, lesson in the importance of patience in his debut defeat in a fight of the night winner against Kennedy and has been dominant in his five consecutive victories since, which included a stretch of three first-round stoppages.

But Ulberg admits his most recent win via submission may have provided the biggest shot of confidence yet, an undeniable endorsement of the strength of his grappling game – an area kickboxers transitioning to MMA traditionally struggle with.

Reflecting on how far he's come in just three years exclusively focused on MMA, Ulberg says he's almost unrecognisable as a fighter.

"The loss against Kennedy was a blessing in disguise because I took a step back and I had time to think," Ulberg explained.  

"I was dominant in kickboxing but the MMA game is so much different. You have to worry about getting taken down. The four-ounce gloves. The five minutes in comparison to three minutes is a massive jump.

Adjusting to that and learning the tools to go along with what I have now - I'm just learning to break barriers. That's what I've been learning about myself, being able to break as many barriers as I can.

"In terms of my fitness levels and, and the technical sides of things and learning mixed martial arts as a game strategy has been a big thing for me."

Now one of light heavyweights strongest surging prospects, Ulberg, 33, could very quickly find himself around the title conversation in a division which is crying out for fresh contenders for champion Alex Pereira.

While he only has one title defence to his name, 'Poatan' has already shown signs he could be poised for an historic UFC tenure, with suggestions he may step up to heavyweight and attempt to become the first-ever fighter to win titles in three different divisions.

Ulberg confesses he's been manifesting a matchup with the Brazilian he's adamant is inevitable.

"I know it's going to happen. I know eventually it's going to happen, for sure. It's definitely a fight that I want to have for sure.  

"He's dominant right now. He's looking at fighting someone like [Jon] Jones.  

"To get a match up like that would be quite good for me, and then also had to have that win over him will be quite good for me."

Ulberg and Menfield lock horns on a card which is headlined by a heavyweight slobberknocker between the eternally entertaining Derrick Lewis and Rodrigo Nascimento.

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